How to Make Music With Water Glasses

By Jorina Fontelera ; Updated September 15, 2017

Making music with water glasses is a fairly easy process and does not involved a lot of equipment. As long as you have glasses with water in them, you'll be able to create a lovely humming noise by rubbing the rims of the glass or make a chime-like sound by hitting the glass with a teaspoon.

These musical water glasses go by various names: musical glasses, glass harp or glass harmonica. With practice, perhaps you'll be able to whip out a Mozart sonata.

Line up eight glasses that are about the same size, style and shape. You can use glasses of different shapes and sizes, but note that it will be more difficult to create a musical scale.

Fill the first glass 1/16 full of water to make the highest note in the scale. Fill the second 1/8 full, the third 1/4th full, the fourth 3/8th full, the fifth glass half full, the sixth glass 5/8th full, the seventh glass 6/8th full and the eighth glass 7/8th full. Each glass should follow the sound of the notes on a musical scale from lowest to highest – C, D, E, F, G, A, B, C. You can test each note by rubbing the rim of the glass or hitting the side of glass and playing the corresponding note on a tuned piano. Add or remove water until each note rings true.

Using your teaspoons, lightly hit the side of the glass. Allow the glass to vibrate by allowing the teaspoon to bounce off the glass. Hold the teaspoon gently. Create harmony by hitting two glasses at the same time.

Put the teaspoons down and try the rubbing method as well. Dip your index and middle fingers in some water. Rub the moistened fingers lightly around the rim of the glass. The glass will start to hum. To create a chord, get two to three other people to rub one glass each while you rub a glass, too.

Tip

Be sure to keep the tips of your fingers moist. A quick dip in any of the glasses while you're playing should do the trick.

References

About the Author

Jorina Fontelera has been writing about business since 2003, covering the printing and manufacturing sectors, as well as the global accounting and financial industries. She has contributed to "USA Today," "Milwaukee Business Journal" and several trade publications, also writing about parenting, animals, food and entertainment. Fontelera holds a Bachelor of Arts in English from Marquette University.